V4 V4s Build - From Start To Finish

Time to fit the outer air duct/filter housing and new Sprint P08 filter that comes with the Akrapovic exhaust system. We are up to 90 images so far peeps, with a lot more to go, so grab some popcorn, this is going to take a while!



V4 nostrils, up close and personal

 

With the front frame in place and torqued up, it was time to turn my attention to the swing arm and linkages. When it came to fitting it, this proved tricky as I had to counterbalance the engine on its stand to prevent it rocking/rolling over, as all that holds it in place within the sump plate, is it's own weight and it was, by this stage, very top heavy!

New chain slider polished stainless steel bolts



The lip on the underside of the upper chain slider serves an important function, as you will see later.



In order to make a shouldered bolt you need to combine an aluminium collar and dome bolt (both from ProBolt) - 10Nm with a dab of Loctite 243



Lower rocker link, for rear suspension, Cerakoted satin black, along with new bushes and seals pressed in (courtesy of Carl Harrison Motorcycles)

 

Swing arm, rear Ohlins shock absorber and rocker link back on, torque values vary here and are critical. +/- 5% tolerance. Here's where that Shell "Gladus" grease comes in, I mentioned earlier.

Upper and lower shock mounting bolts and rocker link bolt, linkage plates have yet to be fitted.



LH swing arm bolt in place



Finally it's beginning to resemble a motorcycle, rear axle and brake disc also back on.



Here you can see how the upper radiator hose and link pipe snake behind the front frame

 

Getting ever closer to being able to remove the engine stand. First I had to re-attach the rear suspension link plates. The bolts retaining these have to be torqued up to 110Nm! I had originally commissioned some stainless steel ones but they proved to be of the wrong tensile strength and I stretched the thread on one of them whilst tightening it, so decided to use the original three bolts for safety reasons and had these Cerakoted satin silver, to get rid of the dull zinc plated finish.

Here's the completed rear suspension set-up, there is only a 2mm clearance between the lower shock bolt and nut and the inner face of the linkage plates, so very tight!

 

Front forks were next. Once these were on I could dust off the paddock stands and remove the engine stand that had done its job after three long months of work. As I said an invaluable bit of kit.

Front forks back on with temporary steering stem nut. Next pic shows the new stainless lock-stops and nuts.



These plastic pipe caps will serve as protective caps on the ends of the lock stops to stop them from marking the frame on full lock and scratching the paint! Lower yoke bolts also replaced - 8Nm



Even the horn mounting nut and washer don't escape my attention

 

Here the front fork axle pinch bolts and axle nut have been replaced.



I decided to go with a two tone setup on top of the forks with a black anodised top yoke and red steering stem nut



Re-fitted the ignition switch using new shear bolts



View from above. Still a lot of wiring to sort out. More of that later.





Before I could use the rear paddock stand I wanted to ensure the rear of the bike was as stable as possible, so that meant installing the rear suspension/footrest mounting plates and which also encompassed the side stand assembly. Here is the extended footpeg for the side stand I fitted from CNC Racing. The zinc bolt in this shot was replaced with a stainless item at a later date.



Stainless pivot bolt and self locking nut for the side stand



Completed assembly



Finally the RH suspension plate fitted back on the bike. I have already ordered some anodised frame plugs to cover the swing arm pivot bolts.

 

I've mentioned many times on this thread, the parts I have had Cerakoted, such as the front frame, swingarm, suspension linkages etc. It's not a cheap process but it's advantages are that it is resistant to heat, does not fade, is exceptionally hard and therefore does not scratch easily, bonds readily to the surface and resists corrosion unlike many other paints or finishes. It is also not so thick (unlike powder coating) that it changes the appearance or rather the definition of a casting. As a result, you also don't need to mask off the threads on any part, though, on certain items they were masked anyway. Cerakote was originally designed to coat firearms which are subject to extreme heat under use but has over the years found it's other niche for coating exhausts, radiators and other parts requiring a tough durable solution. All my Cerakoting was carried out by Hi-Spec Coatings in Sussex. If you are in the market for similar work give them a call. Here is a selection from those parts I had coated.

Radiator fan brackets



Oil cooler pipe retaining clamps



Fuel tank/seat pad plate



Rear subframe cross-member



Gear change lever

 

Completing the top end of the forks involved the handlebars, clip-ons, switchgear and bar-end indicators and hydraulic reservoirs. I will come back to the hydraulic system and indicators later. For now here's the setup I went for.

Handlebars and clip-ons ready to assemble. E clips not shown in this picture. The roll pins in the plastic bag are used as locating dowels for the switchgear and to lock the handlebars into the clip-ons



Clip-ons fitted along with switch gear, clutch master cylinder, Rizoma clutch lever and ProGrip 717 grip. As usual all bolts replaced fr stainless, including bleed nipple and banjo bolts



Same again on the throttle side



Throttle spacer kit installed to remove slack/slop when first applying throttle. Best $25 you can spend.

 

Here some additional shots of the clip-ons and side stand assembly, as well as the side stand switch (new stainless bolts)

 

I've never been a lover of the antennae-esque rear view mirrors on the Panigale, less so their fragility, the fact that on the V4, unlike the 1199, they don't fold back and perhaps more importantly, that they vibrate so much they are near next to useless in the real world, so a decision was made very early on, to get rid of them altogether and go with bar end indicators. I don't like the type that bolt to the nose fairing so it was an easy choice.

The difficulty lay in how to wire them up. Since the handlebars have allen headed inner end caps that secure them to the clip-ons (see previous post for images) the wires from the indicators would have to exit before this point. I simply drilled a small hole on the underside of each handlebar, just before the bar enters the clip-on casting, which is where the wire will exit. I measured and drilled these out some weeks before I had the bars Cerakoted. Having worked out how to get the wires out, I now needed to find a way to connect them to the existing points on the loom. For this I grafted/soldered on two OEM style indicator connectors and fly leads to the exiting wires and heat shrank them, before finally covering them in braided hose to blend in with the style of the OEM loom. These two leads would then loop across to the centre and down over the top of the air filter duct and under the front subframe where they can connect to the original indicator connectors on the front end loom. I tested this set up many times to ensure there was enough slack in the wiring to allow lock to lock movement of the handlebars without the wires being pinched or snagged in any way or that would place them under any tension.

The indicators themselves....I went with MBlaze by MotoGadget, a German manufacturer. I like the narrow form factor and size, as they barely add to the length of the handlebars unlike the Oberon units I had on my 1299. They are incredibly bright and because I wanted to fit them in conjunction with bar end mirrors and MotoGadget don't make a kit for them, I had the retailer (DesmoWorld in Germany, huge thanks to Chris Schipfer for this) make me up some one-off anodised billet adaptors. Not cheap but worth it.



Custom made mirror mounting adaptor kit





Indicators as supplied



Cable sheathing, heatshrink and mirror mount adaptor fitted



OEM connectors fitted onto the ends of the indicator wires AFTER fitting and complete indicator assembly BEFORE fitting to the handlebars



Indicators fitted to the bar ends. The MBlaze model indicators are handed, so MotoGadget sell both a LH and RH version, which are sold separately. This is due to the orientation of the LED bulbs inside. Whilst they are omni-directional in terms of light output, they are brightest when viewed directly in front or from behind, so have to be angled accordingly taking into account the pitch of the bike when sitting on two wheels



This final image shows the "glass-less" mirrors, which I will be fitting later in the build. They feature a unique diamond cut and polished metal disc that produces a reflective surface on par with a conventional glass mirror.

 

Next up will be the remainder of the cooling system. I've got to head back to the hospital again this afternoon, so I will try and post up some more content later if I have time.

 

Thanks JoePeps. I guess you have to be a little crazy to go to such extremes, but that's just me I'm afraid.

 

Glad it may prove of some use to you Bob. It's nice to dispel the myth that these bikes are difficult to work on. They aren't really, they just require the right tools, information, confidence in your own abilities and some time, the latter being the part I'm always short of!